Wrongful Death Caused By Horrific Infected Nursing Home Bed Sores

The family of Eliza Jennings has been awarded $18 million in a wrongful death suit following claims of neglect at a Berea nursing home.

“The facts of this case are horrific,” said the attorney representing the estate of the family.

As part of the overall award, the jury awarded $9.5 million out of a maximum of $10 million for punitive damages because of the care Jennings failed to receive at The Terrace Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, according to court documents.

Jennings developed several deep bed sores, including bed sores down to the bone and infections, including E. coli. One deep-bone bedsore was the size of a softball and left her tailbone and nerve endings exposed. Evidence was presented at trial that The Terrace had a policy of leaving residents in wet diapers for extended periods of time to save money.

The Nursing Home Also failed to render any range of motion therapy causing the elder to become severely contracted.

Jennings also had lost use of her arms and legs because they had become “frozen” from the lack of range-of-motion exercises, this is called contractures.

The Terrace is a part of PMD Corporation, which owns 12 nursing homes across Kentucky.

the decedent Jennings was a retired postmaster for Berea College who also worked at the Holiday Motel until she was 80 years old. She entered the nursing home in 2004, Jennings died in 2009 at age 94.

The case was filed in 2010 on behalf of the estate and James W. Jennings, Eliza Jennings’ grandson. The monetary award was made last week in Madison Circuit Court after an 8-day trial.

A call to Larry Forgy, attorney for the nursing home, was not immediately returned.

Mary Meehan: (859) 231-3261. Twitter: @bgmoms.Blog: BluegrassMoms.com.